Installing a rim mounted faucet in a small area of a bath tub rim is always challenging for bath tub manufacturers and for professional installers. As the area to install a deck mount faucet is small, faucets with multiple fittings and connections are difficult to install and time consuming. Generally faucets have multiple safety elements, such as a thermostatic cartridge to constantly maintain the pre-set water temperature while in use, and a check valve to prevent the reversal of contaminated water flow and a multi-function diverter valve that act as a stop valve. Installing a faucet with mentioned elements in a bath tub rim needs a significant space, therefore such faucets are not used with many bath tub designs.
Therefore, there is a need to have a safety faucet, which can be installed in a small area on a bath tub rim. Such faucets should be easy to install and maintain, such that damaged components can be replaced without any need to demolish the area around the tub.
The present invention aims to provide a unibody safety faucet with unique components that is easy to install and repair, and which increases the life span of the faucet and its parts.
A standard common functioning tub and shower faucet ideally consists of several components such as a thermostatic cartridge to regulate the temperature of the water exiting out of the faucet, a flow diverter cartridge which directs water flow to a spout or a showerhead, several check valves to prevent the reversal of contaminated water back into the water system, and pressure reducing valves to protect flexible hoses that are connected to the faucet. Conventionally, installing such items requires multiple separate components that then have to be connected to one another or requires external installation of faucet assembly that may not appeal aesthetically to a user.
Components such as the thermostatic cartridge and the flow diverting cartridge ideally need to be accessed easily in times when repair is required. Furthermore, the design of conventional flow diverters requires alterations in order to be placed in a single body faucet. The design of conventional flow diverter parts, such as the O-ring grommets, need to be modified in order to be functional on a unibody faucet system. Conventional O-ring grommets of conventional flow diverter cartridges are not able to stay flush to the surface of the cartridges stem. With normal use, as the flow diverter cartridge turns, the O-ring grommet can collapse and cause miss functioning of the flow diverter cartridge and also cause the O-ring grommet to enter the waterways ports. This can often cause damage to the diverting cartridge and the entire faucet assembly itself. Therefore, a new O-ring grommet design and flow diverter cartridge is needed to prevent their damage with continuous use.